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A lockbox in Zurich that contains a puzzle only an expert can decipher leads to a church with hidden secrets about a man some view as a savior…sounds like someone finally got to The Da Vinci Code in their Netflix queue.

Oh, how I pine for the days when Smallville was one of the best shows on TV, and the last couple of episodes of the season built up to a series of incredible cliffhangers that I couldn’t wait to see resolved in the fall. Season openers were a different story, since they always wrapped up most of the plots way too quickly for my taste.

The season finales were always a sight to behold, but based on what I’ve seen so far this season, it’s not looking so good for next week.

Here we had a Lex-heavy episode (usually a good sign) that continued the Veritas storyline I’ve started enjoying. It featured two of my favorite sci-fi character actors (Donnelly Rhodes from Battlestar Galactica and Robert Picardo from Star Trek: Voyager and Stargate). You’d think I would’ve eaten it up, right? Instead, it simply fell flat and left me feeling letdown.

After Lex is attacked and a Kryptonian symbol carved into his chest, Chloe helps Clark figure out that he had to go to St. Christopher’s Cathedral in Montreal. Using an expert in antiquities, Lex discovers the same thing. Just as Clark figures out where to look for a clue to whatever it is that can control him, Edward Teague, the last member of Veritas, shows up, and using Kryptonite, carves a symbol into Clark’s chest because he’s afraid that if Clark lives, Lex will figure out how to control him. Luckily Chloe shows up and saves Clark, who in turn saves Lex from Teague. But Lex not only found what he needed before that, but when he gets back to the Castle, he discovers where to go to find the Fortress.

Picardo was overly dramatic (which I assume must have been the script and the directing, since I know he’s a great actor) and Rhodes was doing a bad European accent as he explained everything we needed to know to Lex (and us). Both actors seemed completely wrong for their parts, and I can only guess that they were chosen simply because they’re known genre actors currently working in Vancouver and they happened to be available.

Something happened with this episode that I haven’t seen for a while on this show. They wrapped up this week’s story about three quarters of the way through, then spent the final part of the show on a scene that felt tacked on. Not that it’s always bad to go against convention, but it should feel like it’s organic to the show, and this didn’t. What it felt like was that they had a shorter-than-normal show to do this week, and a longer-than-normal story to tell next week, so they stuck what should have been the beginning of next week’s show onto the end of this week’s to flesh out the time left over.

I’m going to skip my list of plot holes, coincidences, and inconsistencies again, since it’s just become so commonplace with this show that I’ve lost the desire to point them out anymore.

There was more of the same with Clark reacting rather than being proactive. Have you noticed how many times Clark has been the one to be rescued this season? I read an article on writing recently that discussed the difference between the protagonist and the hero in a story. Do you know what I realized as I watched this episode? Clark is no longer the protagonist. He’s just the hero. Lex is the protagonist now. He’s the one on the “quest” in the episode’s title. He’s the one who’s made the journey this season - albeit a negative one - into full-blown villainy, while Clark has continued to stagnate (as I mentioned last week) because they can’t turn him into Superman yet.

The problem is, Lex is going to leave the series after next week’s episode. So where does that leave Smallville next season? My guess is, up a creek without a paddle.

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